


Free

by LibraryMage



Series: Whumptober 2019 [8]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Child Abuse, Gen, Torture, Whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 08:17:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21194525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibraryMage/pseuds/LibraryMage
Summary: Maul reaches his breaking point.





	Free

**Author's Note:**

> written for Whumptober 2019 prompt #13 (adrenaline)
> 
> I have been wanting to write this fic for so long, you guys have no idea. Maul is probably 10-ish.
> 
> Warning for torture of a child.

Maul's throat was raw from screaming.

Even when the lightning stopped, the pain didn’t subside. He swallowed down a mouthful of bile as he shook on the floor, gasping for breath.

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t kill you now?”

His master’s voice was carefully neutral, like it nearly always was, but anger and _disgust_ stabbed at Maul’s mind like sharp jabs from a needle. It was deliberate, he knew. He never sensed any emotions that his master didn’t want him to sense.

“No, Master,” Maul said, keeping his eyes on the ground. It was a question he’d been asked before, and the answer was always the same. His master had no reason to keep him alive if he didn’t measure up.

Maul was expecting the next blast of lightning that surged through him, but knowing that it was coming did nothing to lessen the pain. Maul could feel a burning sensation behind his eyes and closed them tightly as he writhed on the ground at his master’s feet, screaming as pure agony consumed his whole body. There was nothing else he could do. His master didn’t appreciate or accept apologies or explanations or pleas. All Maul could do was take this.

The lightning stopped again, but Maul’s relief lasted only a moment before he saw his master lift his hand again, those familiar blue sparks dancing around his fingertips.

_No._

It was more a feeling than a thought, and as it took root in Maul’s mind, a surge of adrenaline coursed through him.

Driven by pure instinct, he reached out through the Force, wrenching his master’s lightsaber into his own hand as he lunged to his feet.

He only got away with it because his master wasn’t expecting it. He had been expecting Maul to do what he always did; submit to his punishment and bend to his master’s will.

_Not this time._

His master didn’t even realize what was happening until Maul had leapt at him, igniting the lightsaber’s blood red blade.

With a wordless scream of rage, Maul plunged the blade into the man’s chest. Lightning crackled through the air, narrowly missing Maul’s face. Undaunted, he drew the weapon back and struck again.

As his master fell, Maul kept attacking, fueling each blow with the memories of every punishment, every torturous training session, every moment he spent feeling weak and powerless and _worthless_.

At long last, he lowered the weapon. His master’s chest was little more than a burned-out shell now. Maul could feel something wet on his face and hurriedly wiped the tears away, as if he could still be punished for them now.

He stepped forward, the lightsaber still clutched in his hand. He raised the weapon, letting it hang in the air in front of him for a moment as he stared down at his master’s lifeless body. He barely felt himself moving as he brought the blade down, slashing it through his master’s neck and severing his head. Just in case. In case of what, he didn’t know. His master was _gone_ now.

He was free.


End file.
